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Lycaeus Wrex wrote:

And for what its worth, no, if GW started operating in a manner that recognised and respected its customer base, its customers would not always find a bone to pick. By all means go off and enjoy your hobby; all anyone on these forums wants to do is enjoy their hobby. The vast majority of people are only as outspoken as they are because of how much they love 40k, and it irks them to see the presiding company run itself into the ground in such a brutal manner.

Couldn't agree more. Once you understand the logic behind and the reasons for the decision making that has taken place recently, everything else falls into place. Anyone not sure about it should read about the stock ownership of GW, and of how the spate of spending cuts and price increases was motivated entirely in order to generate a dividend payment. That's where the profits went - meanwhile the development division has been cut, stores have been reduced to one man, and obviously far less was spent on the introduction of Finecast than needed to be (hence the atrocious quality control, unforgivable for a company that should be the torch-bearer for the industry).

Sales are falling, and profit margins were maintained by cuts that will severely curtail the ability of the company to turn those falling sales around. It's painful to bear witness to, but GW is not being handled well at all. It's motivations, chiefly those of Wells and Kirby (who received a sizeable amount of money thanks to said dividend payment), are not those of the hobbyists who are now shouting so loudly as a result.

The secrecy that you call it is a 2 month window on new releases. In June we know what comes in August. Is that such a big deal?

Sergeant Horse wrote:The secrecy that you call it is a 2 month window on new releases. In June we know what comes in August. Is that such a big deal?

You obviously haven't been paying attention lately. GW has announced that they're reducing that.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369325.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/376423.page

Platuan4th wrote:

Sergeant Horse wrote:The secrecy that you call it is a 2 month window on new releases. In June we know what comes in August. Is that such a big deal?

You obviously haven't been paying attention lately. GW has announced that they're reducing that.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369325.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/376423.page

Except I received my new releases email up until august for my store. Oh damn.

Sergeant Horse wrote:

Platuan4th wrote:

Sergeant Horse wrote:The secrecy that you call it is a 2 month window on new releases. In June we know what comes in August. Is that such a big deal?

You obviously haven't been paying attention lately. GW has announced that they're reducing that.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/369325.page

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/376423.page

Except I received my new releases email up until august for my store. Oh damn.

And?

New policies take time to enact.

Except it's supposed to happen in the next white dwarf. Which the store received today here. And that only shows the next month, so already I'm a month ahead. Just pointing out the lack of secrecy, don't let me get in the way of the bile, itll ruin my shoes

Sergeant Horse wrote:Except it's supposed to happen in the next white dwarf. Which the store received today here. And that only shows the next month, so already I'm a month ahead. Just pointing out the lack of secrecy, don't let me get in the way of the bile, itll ruin my shoes

Don't worry about the bile, you seem adept enough at the soft shoe shuffle to avoid it.
But bile or not, two months notice is still pitiful.

I am reading this and i am shocked at the outright arrogance of many people on this forum. Running a large international, publicly traded company is not easy. To think you can do better because you have read a few things on the internet and have a few opinions (however suggestions and ideas are to be commended) is pretty out there especially when there are Professional Administrators, Business Managers and Graduates running this operation. However all I am hearing is irrational drivel backed up by loose facts or hearsay that decends into contempt and sarcasm when posters cannot discuss (read again discuss) or backup their claims. If you have an issue with GW do what I do, download their annual report and other items under the FoI act.

Taking cheap-shots at Mr Well's, whilst amusing (Chibi you cheeky little monkey ) is being interpreted as a slur on his character, and is effectively declaring open season on character assissination. Everyone needs to be more objective, less irrational, stop fanning flames of discord and making this issue emotive. Alot of the opinions here are based on personal preference or in some cases more disturbingly the Conspiracy element saying that GW is an Evil corporation and is stupid and irrational. Seriously guys most of us on this forum have IQ's far beyond the average and we sound like a bunch of children. Lets raise the bar of this discussion a bit and see if we can come up with a more comprehensive business argument rather than the "I WANT THIS NOW!!! GW ARE RUBBISH, SERIOUSLY DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!" level of arguement that we are currently at.

notprop wrote:

iproxtaco wrote:I was going to contact you on the same matter. My intention was to simply complain about the response, that they were dodging the problem and that it was a typical Copy/paste response, not to go into the specifics. It will be more politely put of course.

If you ask the same questions of the same person you will get the same response.

For example Kilkrazy has already said this, I am saying it again. Are we copying and pasting?

I'll look forward to your Copy Pasta whine thread in a few weeks.

Credit to a busy man for taking the time to respond. If anyone was expecting him to say "sorry you're quite right we will enact the changes you suggest imediately" then you are having a laugh.

Personally thought that MW's letter addressed most of the points raised well and in as much detail as a letter will allow.

C_C the tone that your original points raised suggest that you were going to be pretty hacked off no matter what response you got. Do you think that the time used to write the letter was worth it?

I think that you did well to get a response, especially considering that you made it clear in the first paragraph that you woldn't continue to be a customer. To me this shows GW ina slightly better light. (still not paying RRP though!)

Sorry, did you respond and tell me not to write much the same thing as OP? You clearly didn't actually read the post you quoted. My intention was to complain about the lack of quality in the response, and other responses given to other members of Dakka. I specifically said that I didn't want to go into detail. I also have no intention of creating another thread, simply posting in this one if I get a response, which is unlikely. Another thing, I would have been at least satisfied if he written a decent letter in reply, that goes into detail without skimming the issues, but the base excuses for their actions are the same, so no, that part I wouldn't have been happy with regardless. Frankly, I find it a little insulting that you assume that everyone who wants to complain is 'whining'.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

mwnciboo wrote:I am reading this and i am shocked at the outright arrogance of many people on this forum. Running a large international, publicly traded company is not easy. To think you can do better because you have read a few things on the internet and have a few opinions (however suggestions and ideas are to be commended) is pretty out there especially when there are Professional Administrators, Business Managers and Graduates running this operation. However all I am hearing is irrational drivel backed up by loose facts or hearsay that decends into contempt and sarcasm when posters cannot discuss (read again discuss) or backup their claims. If you have an issue with GW do what I do, download their annual report and other items under the FoI act.

Taking cheap-shots at Mr Well's, whilst amusing (Chibi you cheeky little monkey ) is being interpreted as a slur on his character, and is effectively declaring open season on character assissination. Everyone needs to be more objective, less irrational, stop fanning flames of discord and making this issue emotive. Alot of the opinions here are based on personal preference or in some cases more disturbingly the Conspiracy element saying that GW is an Evil corporation and is stupid and irrational. Seriously guys most of us on this forum have IQ's far beyond the average and we sound like a bunch of children. Lets raise the bar of this discussion a bit and see if we can come up with a more comprehensive business argument rather than the "I WANT THIS NOW!!! GW ARE RUBBISH, SERIOUSLY DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!" level of arguement that we are currently at.

Do you find it satisfying to be the "objective alternative view-point" guy? I wouldn't call it arrogance to criticize the obviously poor decisions. The fact of the matter is, no matter how much you may think people are behaving in a child-like manner, those people who are "fanning the flames of discord" have very good arguments, touched by hints of emotion, but asking people not to feel a certain way about something they clearly love is like asking a brick to swim. I would suggest you don't post another, like guy above, insulting message. No one is really acting like you think they are.

"GW ARE RUBBISH, SERIOUSLY DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!"

Personally I would like to see some evidence that they actually do know.
They show little evidence of being able to do so, other than "they are a niche market who can charge what they want because a loyal fanbase keeps begging for more."

They take a loyal fanbase for granted and show nothing but disrespect bordering on contempt.
GW management display a mindset that is exploitative. It is simply not good enough to say that that is the nature of business.

It is part of the fault of the long term customers that has brought this about for putting up with it but if any other company behaved like this towards its customers, would you keep buying their products/services?

Apologies if that is emotive, but as I have said elsewhere, I have never known another company behave like GW, so I have nothing else to base the experience on.

Mr Mystery wrote:Except Forums are not a good place to garner statistics.

Trust me, GW have access to more feedback than you think. And even in the post above, there is the impression that no matter GW's reasoning, it doesn't matter because your mind is already set. How then can the enter into any kind of discourse?

Feedback from who?

mwnciboo wrote:I am reading this and i am shocked at the outright arrogance of many people on this forum. Running a large international, publicly traded company is not easy. To think you can do better because you have read a few things on the internet and have a few opinions (however suggestions and ideas are to be commended) is pretty out there especially when there are Professional Administrators, Business Managers and Graduates running this operation. However all I am hearing is irrational drivel backed up by loose facts or hearsay that decends into contempt and sarcasm when posters cannot discuss (read again discuss) or backup their claims. If you have an issue with GW do what I do, download their annual report and other items under the FoI act.

Taking cheap-shots at Mr Well's, whilst amusing (Chibi you cheeky little monkey ) is being interpreted as a slur on his character, and is effectively declaring open season on character assissination. Everyone needs to be more objective, less irrational, stop fanning flames of discord and making this issue emotive. Alot of the opinions here are based on personal preference or in some cases more disturbingly the Conspiracy element saying that GW is an Evil corporation and is stupid and irrational. Seriously guys most of us on this forum have IQ's far beyond the average and we sound like a bunch of children. Lets raise the bar of this discussion a bit and see if we can come up with a more comprehensive business argument rather than the "I WANT THIS NOW!!! GW ARE RUBBISH, SERIOUSLY DO THEY EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING!" level of arguement that we are currently at.

GW is not like a normal company that sells products, it encourages people to invest a huge amount of time and some may argue, money in their products. This is fine, but people then have expectations with how the company is run. Having spent so much time an effort building up your forces, you can't simply jump ship if you are unhappy with what is going on.

I'm a keen amateur photographer and use Nikon kit. Although the glass can be expensive as well all the accessories that go with it, I don't have the same expectations as I do with miniature makers. If I don't like the cost of a Nikon lens I can look at a third party lens and use that. I don't have to use a Nikon battery or flash gun.

This would be the same with golf for example. If you usually use a certain brand of club or golfball, but decide to change, then great you can and you can still play golf.

GW's business model is more based on an addiction and they are the supplier. Which is why people get so vocal and wound up. You don't see this with historical gamers. They have the freedom to get their "fix" from anybody and if their usual supplier hacks them off they can go to someone else.

I like your level of argument, but I don't believe GW is anymore different than say DISNEY, LEGO or any other company where you can collect a series of items. We represent the Hardcore element of Wargaming we are generally not casual Wargamers.

I did point this out in a previous post that SM are IP specific where as Imperial Guard can be substitued for other mini's. Same with the various Orc, elf and dwarf ranges of Mantic etc giving you options. Scribor does some interesting models that are SM-esque and there are only a few mini's out there you could subsitute but they don't look like SM's because GW would quite rightly jump on them. A DYSON is a specific IP and Trademark item, other Vacuum companies cannot copy this design and call it a Dyson or copy it too closely even if they call it something else.

However if you want "Mickey Mouse" you buy Disney and if you want "Space Marines" you have to buy Games workshop. You will always pay a Premium for specific IP/ Branded products.

I think fundamentally this comes being unable to get IP specific models from other sources. You don't hear people complaining they cannot get Disney IP from another source? Furthermore you are comparing Golf (a sport) with Wargaming ( a hobby) no one Golf Company can claim IP over golf clubs, although specific designs and Graphite heads etc they could. It is not a fair comparison.

I would like to Address the Historical Game Issue too. The reason you don't have this problem with Historical games is that you cannot claim IP over history, It actually happened. So I couldn't claim IP for creating a 15mm Panzer IV, I can claim a version or design or specific manufactuirng technique or unique selling point. Equally Napoleonic Infantry, or Roman Legions I cannot claim IP on these.

However when you are buying things that are from a Fantasy World which never actually happened and is the creation of a Human Mind well thats perfect IP. Warhammer is great in this respect as JRR TOLKIEN had Elves and Dwarfs, Orcs, Goblins etc So GW cannot claim they invented them, only specific types High Elves, Dwarf Slayers etc. With 40k it's a problem because it is so out there, that they have the run on the IP.

That's the crux of the issue. They have invented a world that is great and has lots of flavour, but you are tied into it, so therefore people feel that they should be listened to. Rightly or wrongly gamers feel that the company is theirs.

It's no different to Sci Fi geeks. A universe is created, customers buy into it big time with time and effort. This universe is then able to grow due to their investment. Flip side is then the fans think they own it. Which you can argue they have a valid point. Without their devotion it wouldn't of succeeded. GW is in the same position. To be honest i don't think it would take too much to get some goodwill back, but do they really care?

Mr Mystery wrote:

Brunius wrote:I'm sorry, if you people have to take into account the price of tin/plastic, then why do competitors such as privateer press still price their products lower?

In short? They don't. Plus, GW have larger overheads. But you know, don't let facts get in the way of your bile, will you?

Sure, I won't let facts get in the way of my bile.

Facts like those below.

See this? $20 for 18 figures?

Now see this? $48 for 10 figures?

Twice the price for half the models.

Privateer Press was just a random company I see mentioned a lot. No idea about their prices. But, since you insist:

Warmachine Model $13.99 for 1 model.
Imperial Guard model (random metal model that I picked) $23 for one model. Twice the price for a similar model.

Have I still got no "facts to back up my bile"?

OP : you wrote a very good, respectful and balanced letter. I admire that.

But in front of corporate communication, there is no much to expect, sadly.

Hmmm, you make a good point on the Goodwill element. I think the pricing is due to an outdated outmoded Business model. Company specific Shops are prohibitively expensive especially ground floor high street premises. To have a specialist Games store with a small demographic and core customer base (in comparison to the UK population as whole) have their stores next to Major highstreet retailers is a huge costly affair which ultimately drives up price. Read their annual report and look at the retail side.

GW should definitely look to diversify their VIDEO GAME licenses, with the 40K MMO coming that could be a Killer App for them with lots of tie in's and various items.

Consumer Research needs to be a focus, and should be run on the GW Website. With Daily Polls and Questions, this would not be hard and would result in the more common issues being put to the fore more quickly e.g. Chaos Space Marine Codex, Lack of models for certain ranges, lack of New codex for none Imperials.

I think what GW really needs is Leadership pure and simple. You need to provide a vision and deliver it, you need to understand your customers and keep them onside, fair prices is a key component as is quality and Customer service. In this respect I think GW needs a bit of coaching and mentoring, although i would counter they are 75% there, some changes to the retail side and a subsequent price reduction combined with a re-focusing on Game Systems (Specialist included) and miniatures and to stop releasing New Editions all the time, just finish the Codex re-vamps 1st.

Mr Mystery wrote:Your genuine, comparative and factual evidence please?

Their financial reports. The company's performance has essentially been sluggish in the past five years since the end of the LoTR bubble.

The ideas about rationalising the retail chain are good, though they came from the same people who created those problems in the first place by over-expanding off the back of the LoTR bubble. Make of that what you will.

The efficiency savings and regular, above-inflation price rises have compensated for a core problem which is a steady, drip-drip loss of sales. There is also a clear strategy of charging customers in Australia and Canada inflated prices. These ideas are not a long term solution, though.

The Hobbit will give GW a mini-boom for a couple of years however I feel that there are cracks in the core business model.

GW's glory days were actually the mid to late 90s, when they were able to expand size and revenues rapidly with a product offering which consisted of a range of games, not just WH/40K. I think they have deliberately gone away from that wider appeal and are too specialised in WH/40K which has an ever higher price barrier to entry. At the same time they seem to be driving away vets and fans who are a potentially valuable source of word-of-mouth promotion.

It's hard to make good decisions in business. Then again, isn't that why the top managers are paid about £400,000 per year?

Wolfstan wrote:

It's no different to Sci Fi geeks. A universe is created, customers buy into it big time with time and effort. This universe is then able to grow due to their investment. Flip side is then the fans think they own it. Which you can argue they have a valid point. Without their devotion it wouldn't of succeeded. GW is in the same position. To be honest i don't think it would take too much to get some goodwill back, but do they really care?

I dunno... Every year at BOTCON, Hasbro shows the Transformers fandom a pie chart showing how many sales are really from the adult internet fandom in order to show us how insignificant we really are and it is a reality check why we don't always get our way. of course if you are 'reasonable' you see HASBRO gives us a ton of fanservice even though it is a franchise primarily for children.

I feel internet fandoms like to overestimate their worth to the company and act like buying product gives them a controlling stock option and decision making because they think every model is an investment. That is why you get an entitled fandom not based in reality sometimes, and HASBRO does a good job keeping us in our place when we get unreasonable. While I do think this product (warhammer) probably does have a larger chunk of its sales from the internet fandom than other products, I would not be surprised to find out that we provide less revenue and purchasing power than we all think we do. A ton of people who play GW games never log on to a internet forum and have no problem or no idea about half the things in Mark Wells letter. (and they don't care)

nkelsch wrote:I dunno... Every year at BOTCON, Hasbro shows the Transformers fandom a pie chart showing how many sales are really from the adult internet fandom in order to show us how insignificant we really are and it is a reality check why we don't always get our way. of course if you are 'reasonable' you see HASBRO gives us a ton of fanservice even though it is a franchise primarily for children.

Hasbro has a much larger footprint than GW does. 4 billion in sales for 2010 with net revenue of around ten percent of that. It gets 33% of that from selling board games, card games, puzzles, ect..

Hasbro has invested in expanding its business (I don't like some of the things they do, especially to DnD and MtG....) but the point is is that it doesn't need to rely upon feedback and fan support for the product; but they have not pissed off their fanbase as much as GW has done it would seem (though some of their DnD and MtG has withered on the vine a bit, but MtG has made comebacks before).

That doesn't make it any better for any of us. Being a long-term customer, investing 1000s of pounds into playing the game, and having spoken to many people like me, and at least being a good acquaintance with the store staff, I at least feel like GW owes it's customer base, ie. the ones like me who support them long-term, at least a little bit of recognition, and their staff deserve some loyalty and respect from them too. Simply because we are a minority, if a vocal one, doesn't mean we shouldn't feel dis-heartened and frustrated with the company that we owe quite a lot of out enjoyment to.

WarOne wrote: but the point is is that it doesn't need to rely upon feedback and fan support for the product; but they have not pissed off their fanbase as much as GW has done

LOL... that is debatable... I have seen some epic multiyear wars that put some of the most heated threads on dakka to shame. The Movie franchise has been highly divisive. The only fundamental truth I know is no matter how angry people get, they still need their plastic crack and still forkout the cash, they just complain about it more. Hasbro releases a Starscream variant or something constructicon green, and people buy 7 regardless how angry they are.

I still think in the smaller GW franchise, we still overestimate our purchasing power and hence overestimate how much impact our feedback should have.

When you say that a lot of people are un-informed as they don't come on these forums to express their opinions, that's assuming they won't disagree with what GW has done when they're told about it. I would guess that the majority would be of the same mind as many people on this forum, that GW are making stupid decisions. Maybe our spending power isn't that significant, but GW sales figures speak for us. I would also say that a good deal of consistent criticism should be taken into consideration.

nkelsch wrote:The Movie franchise has been highly divisive.

There have been quite a lot of interesting things that Transformers has gone through over the years.

Beast Wars was the start. At first people were skeptical about animal transformations. Little did they know that those would be the glory days of the new Transformers once that series ended and became Beast Machines, followed by the Transformers Armada (got worse at time went on) series trilogy and Transformers Animated (ugh..).

The movies are not too terribly gacky, but they do have faults and are for the most part eye candy (when there is something to actually look at).

But by and large, GW continues to piss on their fanbase while Hasbro has at least tried to do something that people want to like, even if they hate it.

WarOne wrote:

nkelsch wrote:The Movie franchise has been highly divisive.

But by and large, GW continues to piss on their fanbase while Hasbro has at least tried to do something that people want to like, even if they hate it.

But in both situations, both fandoms overestimate their power and make demands based upon the fallacy that they are a majority or at least has a large enough impact that they are entitled to pandering. I think every internet fandom has this to some degree. Give someone a platform they think they have the right to be heard and online communities accomplish this.

nkelsch wrote:

WarOne wrote:

nkelsch wrote:The Movie franchise has been highly divisive.

But by and large, GW continues to piss on their fanbase while Hasbro has at least tried to do something that people want to like, even if they hate it.

But in both situations, both fandoms overestimate their power and make demands based upon the fallacy that they are a majority or at least has a large enough impact that they are entitled to pandering. I think every internet fandom has this to some degree. Give someone a platform they think they have the right to be heard and online communities accomplish this.

I'm relatively ignorant to the entire backlash of the Transformers movies, so can you tell me what did the fanbase do exactly to tell Hasbro about what they thought about the movies beside using the internet forums to vent their frustration?

Kilkrazy wrote:It's hard to make good decisions in business. Then again, isn't that why the top managers are paid about £400,000 per year?

I imagine the big wigs of GW are ideal candidates for the apprentice but taking that as a gauge I think its very hard for so many people to make a good business decision when they are trying to run something they have little knowledge or passion about, really you do need someone at the top has actually see GW as something more than "silly plastic toys" which is the impression I get from the pricing stratergy, I mean to guys at the top when they came in their proberly thought that had a gold mine, how could anyone pay so much for some lumps of plastic? I think this leads to mindset that people who buy them must be tapped/crazy so will pay whatever you decide to charge. You really need someone while a suit with a understanding of the market to be making the decisions, not some boots reject.

itsonlyme wrote:

Kilkrazy wrote:It's hard to make good decisions in business. Then again, isn't that why the top managers are paid about £400,000 per year?

I imagine the big wigs of GW are ideal candidates for the apprentice but taking that as a gauge I think its very hard for so many people to make a good business decision when they are trying to run something they have little knowledge or passion about, really you do need someone at the top has actually see GW as something more than "silly plastic toys" which is the impression I get from the pricing stratergy, I mean to guys at the top when they came in their proberly thought that had a gold mine, how could anyone pay so much for some lumps of plastic? I think this leads to mindset that people who buy them must be tapped/crazy so will pay whatever you decide to charge. You really need someone while a suit with a understanding of the market to be making the decisions, not some boots reject.

Interesting. Perhaps that is the issue, they see themselves now in the same vain as Hasbro. If they do, that would be a problem for them as they would be forgetting that they are still a niche product. Hasbro, etel can get away with it, GW can't.

mwnciboo wrote:I like your level of argument, but I don't believe GW is anymore different than say DISNEY, LEGO or any other company where you can collect a series of items. We represent the Hardcore element of Wargaming we are generally not casual Wargamers.

I did point this out in a previous post that SM are IP specific where as Imperial Guard can be substitued for other mini's. Same with the various Orc, elf and dwarf ranges of Mantic etc giving you options. Scribor does some interesting models that are SM-esque and there are only a few mini's out there you could subsitute but they don't look like SM's because GW would quite rightly jump on them. A DYSON is a specific IP and Trademark item, other Vacuum companies cannot copy this design and call it a Dyson or copy it too closely even if they call it something else.

However if you want "Mickey Mouse" you buy Disney and if you want "Space Marines" you have to buy Games workshop. You will always pay a Premium for specific IP/ Branded products.

Do you REALLY want to get into the arguement of how Disney treats its customers, release information, and accessability to its products vs how GW does the same? Because GW will LOSE that arguement hands down.


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WarOne wrote:
Hasbro has invested in expanding its business (I don't like some of the things they do, especially to DnD and MtG....) but the point is is that it doesn't need to rely upon feedback and fan support for the product; but they have not pissed off their fanbase as much as GW has done it would seem (though some of their DnD and MtG has withered on the vine a bit, but MtG has made comebacks before).

Hasbro no. WoTC divison in regards to Dungeons and Dragons 4e release, well thats another story, inregards to pissing off its fan base.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

nkelsch wrote:
But in both situations, both fandoms overestimate their power and make demands based upon the fallacy that they are a majority or at least has a large enough impact that they are entitled to pandering. I think every internet fandom has this to some degree. Give someone a platform they think they have the right to be heard and online communities accomplish this.

looking over GW's finacial reports over the years, that might not be the case, ie- overestimate their power. TBH its folks like that that helped build GW up in the 90's.

Wolfstan wrote:Interesting. Perhaps that is the issue, they see themselves now in the same vain as Hasbro. If they do, that would be a problem for them as they would be forgetting that they are still a niche product. Hasbro, etel can get away with it, GW can't.

Well exactly, I think the main issue when the managment took over they really didn't understand why the company had become so succesful in the first place, in their minds it boiled down to kids buying toys, this is certainly very common train of thought, most people who see it and actually don't know what it is assume it just some sort of toy, I can remember when I was high school other kids would be like "Yeah I used to play that when I was a kid" (which was amusing looking back it coming from a 12-16 year old!), I think this also explains why they feel the need to dumb down the rules (this isn't to say removing clunky rules is bad). I you can only assume that the guys at the top feel that the rules in the past have been to complex for anyone under the age of 16 hence the "streamlining", this to meshows they don't understand the market, I started playing 40k during 2nd ed when I was 10-11 and I had no trouble understanding the rules (armour pen system was clunky), around came 3rd ed and they had stripped away everything that had made it interesting so I concentrated on fantasy. Same has now happened with fantasy, they have dumped it down to make it more appealing what not really understanding its not the rules so much that put people off, warhammer will never be as cool as 40k because it doesn't have massive thanks and loads of guys with big guns, so rather than try and appease the adult gamer with end up with 8th. Now we have this new expansion based around the most unbalanced and game breaking part of the game, not only that they make it domininate the game even more! I mean they had a chance here to actually make something really cool, seige rules, expanded campaign rulesbut no, monsters and magic

But your right, they do act like they are Hasbro, hell at times I think like they act like they are sainsburys charging over priced products for something you can buy down the road at half the price (Aldi/Iceland), in many ways they are actually like sainsburys, it's these high prices that have allowed other companies to pop up all other the placem they continue to ignore them and these companies continue to expand, unlike GW atleast GW has things like BOGOFS to try and entice you.